Complete Moving Checklist for Families

Family Moving Checklist: Complete Moving Checklist for Families

Moving around the country is never easy. The organization and process of moving from one state to another are usually considered one of the most challenging moments that people can face in their lives.

Why is moving so hard?

Family move schedule. There is a number of reasonable grounds why this is so difficult:

• home moving can sometimes be quite expensive, so your savings are likely to be at risk,
• moving takes heaps of time to plan and arrange, which significantly increases the stress when you need to leave quickly,
• moving usually involves hard work for several days in a row, especially when you decide to load your things yourself, as well as
• moving usually involves a significant disruption to your life as you move away from your close friends and, in some cases, your family.
• And when you move with your family, things can get even more complicated. Depending on your child’s age or children, you will face significant challenges that will undoubtedly increase the overall complexity of the upcoming moving.

Do not stress!

This family moving checklist will help you overcome one of the most common challenges when moving to another state with your family. Approximately four weeks before moving day, the family moving schedule below will guide you throughout your preparations, focusing on specific tasks for all family members, including your pets.

All set for the best moving checklist for families?

4 weeks before Moving day

If you know exactly how to achieve and maintain a high level of time management, you should have enough time to prepare for the moving in about four weeks fully.

4 weeks before move day

Take a moving company or move on your own. This is one of the first problems that must be solved when moving with a family. You must consider the pros and cons of each relocation situation and choose the option that works best for everyone. Generally speaking, you can try to rent a truck and get around on your own when moving around the country. However, when traveling around the country, you are better off relying on a reputable moving company – request quotes from movers. When moving to a new state with your family, the most effective way to ensure the safety of your property and the comfort of your family members is to use the services of a top-rated intercity moving company. Get free quotes from trusted carriers in your area and choose the offer that best suits your spending plan and your requirements. Carefully research potential carriers before selecting the perfect offer for price and terms.

Talk about moving with your children. You need to take a moment to discuss the upcoming move with your children if they are pretty old to understand what is happening. Moving to a new city, often an entirely new state is a considerable challenge for school-age kids because they will change the school they are most likely to go to and leave their friends behind. Moving can be complicated for everyone, so focus on the positives to convince your kids to help you when you leave the state. Prepare paperwork for transferring children to another educational institution. When moving with children of school age, organizing the transfer of schools is a critical task. First, you must find an excellent academic institution for your child or children in a new place – do not forget to plan a school tour after the move. And second, plan to transfer documents directly from one of your children’s schools to the new school. If it is difficult, take these documents personally with you to a new place.

Look for free moving boxes. On your family’s moving checklist, you should have a variety of ways to cut down on moving costs, from getting free packing materials to bringing everything you need to load things yourself. Consider cutting your packaging costs by asking for free cartons from friends, neighbors, co-workers, significant stores in your area, or online. The average number of boxes to move an entire house is 60, so every box you get for free will help you move at a lower cost. Clear your home of any unnecessary things. This family moving plan invites you to eliminate all items that you no longer need, that you do not intend to use in the future, or that you never used in any way. Think about it – there is no point in wasting valuable time packing useless items and then paying big bucks to have them shipped to a brand new location. Be pragmatic and clear your home of any unwanted items before you start packing. Start the packing process immediately. If you have not decided to use special packaging solutions, you should start packing your items as soon as possible. Boxing for a move is one of the most time-consuming tasks, so you should increase the time you think you’ll need to keep your personal belongings safe. Naturally, it would help if you started packing from the most inaccessible places for sorting and packing – for the most part, these are storage places in the house.

3 weeks before Moving day

Since you’ve been working on your family’s moving calendar for a week, it’s time to keep marking these important moving tasks as DONE. You have about 20 days left until the day of departure, so now is not the best time to relax.

Give kids points for helping them move. This is an excellent way to keep your kids involved in the pre-move preparations so they really feel like they’re part of a team. Also, during the move, you should welcome any help you can get. So, motivate your kids to work out and get their scores – if they’re old enough. Help them when needed, but give them some freedom to make decisions about the future of their things.

Truck rental. If you are moving to a short distance, you can try to organize a self-guided move for yourself and your family. In this case, you will have to rent a truck from either one of the best car rental companies in the country (UHaul, Penske, Budget, Ryder) or a small local truck rental company. Make sure you rent a truck of the right size (capacity) to avoid future problems. 

Contact your family doctor. Moving your family to another state means that you will have to make an appointment with another family doctor in the new location. And to be able to do that, you will need your medical records as well as your family’s medical records. So, make a quick visit to your existing doctor and get all the paperwork you need to transfer to a new family doctor in a new city. Also, remember that you need to get your dental records from your dentist.

Choose how you will deliver your pets. Moving with your family also means that any pets you may have are also moving away with you. If you have a dog, cat, bird, fish, or other pet, they are part of the family, so you also need to find the best ways to transport them safely. Keep in mind that specialized transport companies are not allowed to transport pets for safety reasons, so one of the most general ways to travel with pets is to transport them in your car.

Choose what you will do with your furniture. One of the hardest things about moving as a family is making the smart decision about what you should do with the pieces of furniture you have. You may like some interior items, while your partner may not like them or something else. Your kids will probably want to leave their beds too. Remember that transporting oversized and heavy furniture around the country is hardly ever worth it due to the high cost of transportation. So, are you moving out your pieces of furniture or buying new ones after you move? Have a sale before you move.

Given that you may find some downtime in your busy family moving schedule, you should consider organizing a sale to sell all the items you won’t be bringing with you. By doing this, you will be able to get rid of unnecessary things and some much-needed money. A successful pre-move garage sale takes time and proper organization, so decide if the extra initiative will be worth it eventually.

About two weeks before you have to move, you should discuss the move checklist with your family to see if you have made enough progress. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to stay on the same level with many tasks and not give up on your organizer.

2 weeks before Moving day

If necessary, hire a carrier for cars and trucks. When moving with your family from one state to another that is too far away from where you are now, you may not enjoy driving around the country for a few days. In this case, you must take a reliable car delivery company and fly to your destination. Similarly, if you have two vehicles, you can also use a reliable delivery service for the second vehicle. 

Change your mailing address. An instant move to a new home means your mailing address will also change. Ideally, you should start the address change process about two weeks before moving to ensure you don’t lose any critical mail during the move. Fortunately, you have four options to change your USPS address: 

1) in person at your nearest post office, 

2) online, 

3) by phone, and 

4) by mail. 

Relocate basic utilities. Imagine that you just moved straight to a brand new place only to find that there is no electricity or running water. Ouch! You wouldn’t like it, would you? So, be assertive and arrange for the transfer of essential utilities such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, and cable TV to your new home. Contact your current energy service providers to schedule a utility shutdown day. Then contact the new energy companies to ensure you don’t unload in the dark and without water. 

Termination of all contracts and subscriptions. Make a comprehensive checklist of all agreements as well as memberships. Then terminate these contracts individually, as you will no longer be in that location. Also, stop your membership in numerous clubs and gyms. If applicable, return deposits of any type to minimize the potential loss of money resulting from the termination of your membership cards.

Decide your houseplants. When you move with your family, you should be able to carry some of your favorite houseplants in your car. However, when moving far across the country, moving your plants becomes too dangerous for your leafy companions. Hence, you need to seriously consider giving them away to buddies or donating them, preferably. Expert transport companies are not allowed to move the plants for safety reasons.

Just seven days before the scheduled departure date. Ideally, you will be able to control the points with this family move checklist.

1 week before Moving day

Consider if you need any help with packing. Carrying your belongings is essential during a home move, so your primary focus should be protecting your valuables for safe transportation. Analyze the scenario carefully and ask your buddies to help you finish the packing job if necessary. Assemble an essential box for your children. When moving with kids, you need to load up the box with their important items – things they will need during the actual move. What you load into this box depends a lot on the age of your kids: essential items can range from baby stuff (reusable baby diapers, baby food, clothes, toys, etc.) to teen things like electronic gadgets. 

Prepare an essential box for your pets. When moving with pets, whether in your area or far away, you must prepare a box filled with important pet items. The tip is to ensure they feel safe and comfortable during the move, so consider loading up on pet food, treats, bedding, favorite toys, and even favorite blankets for extra comfort. Prepare the perfect care provider for dogs, cats, and birds for their safety.

Get your family car serviced. When you decide to go to a new destination, one thing you can forget is to ensure that your family car does not let you down on the road. Play it safe – unless your vehicle is relatively new or in excellent condition, it’s a good idea to take your car to an auto repair shop for efficient service before driving hundreds of miles.

Plan your moving trip. A road trip to a new home doesn’t have to be just nonstop driving. You can easily arrange a fun road trip with stops along the way if you have extra time. Such a plan should be of particular interest to your children, who will undoubtedly want to see new places and try new adventures on the way to a new home.

Consider organizing a farewell event. The good news is that your family moving checklist isn’t all about work, work, and work. Before you leave, consider organizing a farewell party for friends and family. Plus, you go in ways you’ll never know when you revisit your close friends. If your kids are pretty old, they can invite a few of their close friends over to ensure they can spend quality time with each other before departure.

Moving day

Moving day has arrived!

Are you ready to handle one of the move’s most physically and psychologically challenging days?

Wake up early. Moving day is going to be (very) busy, so you’d better get up early to give yourself more time if you forgot to do something important. A very early start is also an incentive when moving in the summer, when temperatures can reach highs at noon and early noon. Please do your best to get your relatives to bed the night before moving so they have the necessary stamina on the day of the move.

Keep your valuables to yourself. By this point, you should have done with your packing homework and just a few small packing jobs to complete before your moving company arrives or you start packing the vehicle during your self-move. Keep all valuable objects with you at all times: documents, precious jewelry, cash, payment cards, portable digital devices, and more. Please do not trust shipping companies with your valuables, no matter how reliable they may seem.

Take care of the safeness of your kids and pets. Moving with kids can be dangerous, especially on move day when large pieces of furniture and heavy boxes will be kept at home for a long time. It would help if you took precautions before it’s too late – ask friends or family members to come and take care of your children and pets in a room away from packaging.

Dress appropriately for the move. Part of the reason moving day can be so unsafe is the potential for injury, the worst thing that can happen during moving. So, to protect yourself and family members around you, don’t forget to dress appropriately for the move: 

1) use your most comfortable set of closed shoes, which has rubber anti-slip soles, and 

2) wear clothes that will not limit your actions in any conditions. 

When you deal with an expert moving company, you should be ready to pick up the movers on a prearranged day and time. Show them your house, give them specific instructions, if any, and then just let them do what they do best. Take some time in case the carriers have any questions for you. Also, be a good host and offer cool water to your workers when moving during the summer season.

Do one last security check. When the car is loaded, and you are about to leave the house, make one final round of the house to check all the doors and windows and turn off all electricity, water, and gas. Also, check for any leftovers before locking up the house before starting the family moving trip.